Indore to have state’s first Central Drug Testing Lab

The country’s ninth and Madhya Pradesh’s first Central Drug Testing Laboratory (CDTL) may start operating in Indore within two years, as the state government has already allocated land for the purpose, said Dr K Bangarurajan, deputy drug controller (west zone) on Friday.

Speaking to HT on the sidelines of the inaugural session of Pharma Tech Expo-2015 in Indore, Dr Bangarurajan said that the government had allocated land for the establishment of the laboratory near GPO and construction work is expected to start from the next financial year.

Speaking further, Dr Bangarurajan credited upgradation of technology for the rapid growth of the pharma industry. Patients in the country too were benefitting from the technological advancements, which also had the additional benefit of ensuring that the medicines were meeting international norms. Machinery costs too were falling because of the Centre’s Make in India initiative, he added.

The government had also been taking various steps to ensure cost reduction in prices, such as putting 348 essential medicines under drugs price control and keeping tabs on prices through the National Pricing Authority which states that no company can hike prices of medicines by more than 10% annually.

Speaking on the image of the Indian pharmaceutical sector in the world, the deputy director said when it came to exports, the Indian pharmaceutical sector stood second only to the IT sector.

“We are exporting pharmaceutical products worth about $16 billion in more than 200 countries annuall; in fact, out of total vaccines distributed across the globe, 33% are from India,” Dr Bangarurajan said.

On the proliferation of online pharmacies, Dr Bangarurajan said that the matter was still in its initial stages.

“No decision has been taken place so far as sub-committees studying the issues. They are consulting with stake holders and their comments will be study and only after studying various factors and comments, any decision will be taken. In simple words, chemists across the country no need to worry at present,” he added.